Shards
by ttfan111robstar1
Summary: The night after the Pyramid Of Light duel, Seto takes time to sort out his feelings. Who in their right mind could care about such a dark and broken man? The answer: Mokuba. Kaiba Brothers fluff all around.


**Author's Note: So I watched Pyramid Of Light and this just happened. Seto's feelings about the danger he put his brother in. And the resulting fluff. Enjoy Kaiba Brothers fans!**

Seto Kaiba was known for being pompous, arrogant, and unflappable. He had walls of steel built around his emotions, never letting anything get to him, and making sure those walls stayed up. But after the events that happened to him that day, the walls had suddenly gained a thousand years of rust, and could easily be crumbled by something small. However, what took those walls down was nothing small, and it was something so large that it may have very well taken those walls down when they were in their top form.

Mokuba, his little brother whom he had sworn his entire life to protect, had nearly been killed- and it was because of his own foolishness.

Oh, he knew very well that whatever that thing was that attacked him in the pyramid of light was responsible for the actual near slaughtering. But if he hadn't played that card, it wouldn't have happened. Seto Kaiba was not one to feel guilt or remorse. His own rules of survival dictated that he feel nothing the vast majority of the time. But of course, Mokuba was the exception to every one of those rules. With his brother, he felt things intensely. So intensely that sometimes he felt he might break with that level of feeling. So when guilt and remorse came into play regarding his brother, it was nearly overwhelming to him.

The black and starless night blanketed the city, and from a glance out his bedroom window not one light remained. It was as dark and as dreary as he felt. He glanced over to the clock on his nightstand. It was one thirty in the morning. He had been trying to sleep for half an hour, but it hadn't been working. He could have credited that with the discomfort of his injured arm, but he knew the truth. He had had his share of physical injuries in the past, courtesy of Gozaburo, and he had learned quickly to sleep while dealing with the pain, with no medications. He'd had much worse than an injured arm, and he knew that if he was up right now, it was an emotional problem. Not a physical one.

He sighed. The only way he was going to get some sleep was if he did something he really did not enjoy- let the emotions run their course. So he sat up in bed, and turned, putting his feet to the floor, and envisioned those walls coming down. And then, thought about everything that had happened. The presence coming into his mind, the changes in his behavior, the way his brother was almost killed that day, and all the other times Mokuba had been put in harms way.

Suddenly, some invisible dam began to break. He sensed it but wasn't quick enough to stop it. Emotions were rushing past him at a hundred miles per hour, so quickly that he couldn't stop them or even glimpse their name. His head was spinning at all of these feelings filled him, and he quickly felt like he was going to drown. This was perhaps confirmed in what may have been a moment of insanity for him when he swore he felt water on his hand. And when he reached out to touch it, it was real. Inadvertently he looked up at the ceiling, thinking that maybe there was a leak in the room, before he realized that was impossible, because they had checks done monthly for such problems. It took him a moment, longer than he would have liked to admit, to realize that he, the great and mighty Seto Kaiba, was crying. This was confirmed when he felt wetness sliding down his cheek.

So this is what it felt like to cry.

He hadn't done that in well over eleven years, before his parents died. In all honesty he had forgotten what it felt like. But he couldn't stop it now, if he wanted to sleep anytime soon. So he let it go on, and fairly quickly, he had dissolved into sobs. Quiet, broken, sobs. It seemed befitting to him, because he felt like a broken man, so he didn't bother to try and stop them as he cried into the night.

Mokuba Kaiba, in the meanwhile, shot up in bed. He wasn't sure what had awoken him. A look outside told him that it wasn't bad weather like he might have expected. Sometimes the clapping of thunder woke him up and startled him from sleep. This time that was not the case. So what was it? It hadn't been a nightmare. He always remembered them right after he awoke, and no haunting images stayed with him. He did an inventory on himself. He didn't have to go to the bathroom, and he wasn't thirsty. But he still got the sense that something was off. He knew he wouldn't be sleeping again until he knew what was up. So he climbed out of bed and started walking. The one thing that might have woken him was something he feared most: Something was wrong with his brother. He padded quickly yet silently down the hall, and made it to his brother's door and slowly peeked inside. Seto was sitting up. He could tell that from the light coming into the room from the window. But he was shaking. That wasn't normal for him. And then, when he strained his ear to listen for anything, he heard ragged breathing. In that moment, he knew what was going on.

Seto was crying.

Alarm shot up in Mokuba and erased any hope of sleep from his mind. He went inside and walked to his brother, and it was during that time that he realized his brother was sobbing. "Seto?" He put a hand on the shoulder, once so strong, that now seemed so fragile.

Kaiba flinched away hard. He hadn't heard anyone come in, and having someone, especially his little brother, who looked to him for strength, see him so defeated was unbearable. He was afraid. Afraid of letting him down more than he already had.

Seeing his brother recoil from him was more than Mokuba could bear. And he jumped into his brother's lap and wrapped himself around him like an octopus. Seto was not one for affection. Usually when an unwarranted hug came, he tended to struggle and squirm against it. The fact that he didn't try to fight it showed just how low he was. A bolt of fear struck Mokuba so hard that he shivered. He feared for his brother. "Seto, what's wrong? Please tell me. I want to help."

Kaiba was very quiet, but then, he spoke. "I can't lose you, Mokuba. I almost did, and it would have been my fault." His voice trembled, choked with the tears he hadn't yet shed.

"Seto…" Mokuba said quietly. He reached up a hand and wiped his tears away from his cheeks. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't you doing that. You were being manipulated. You didn't do that. You would never hurt me."

"Maybe I was being manipulated but I still knew what I was doing… The fact that beating him became more important than your safety… Oh God, Mokuba I didn't recognize myself. That… that was more like Gozaburo. And now I see the truth. I'm no better than he is."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Mokuba shouted fiercely, with tears streaming down his own face. "You are NOTHING like him! He didn't care about me. He never held me when I cried, or gave me hugs, or took care of me when I was sick. He wouldn't have felt anything if he was the one this happened to. You did. You aren't anything like him, big brother."

Seto wrapped his arms around his little brother, relishing in his presence, and the feel of his smaller body against his. He was better than any medicine, any other comfort. Emotions were so rare for him, but today, with everything being let out, he decided it was alright to show some more- at least to the one person who always stood by him. "I love you, Mokie. I don't know how you can stand having a brother like me…"

"Seto, don't you get it? I love you. That's all there is to it. You may not be everybody's favorite guy, but you've always been there for me when I needed you. No matter what happened, you were the one who helped me. You were the one who rescued me when I got kidnapped or brainwashed. You're the one I know I can count on. You're my family, Seto. I couldn't ask for a better brother."

"Really?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

"Well yeah. No one else could take your place or do what you do for me. No one reads to me like you can. No one helps me through my nightmares like you can. No one makes me laugh like you can. No one else could help when I'm sick like you can because you know I don't like being touched when I'm sick."

"I wonder where you got that from…?" Seto said sarcastically.

"Maybe the same big brother who never let's anyone take care of him when _he's _sick?" Mokuba smiled, pulling back enough to see his brother's face.

Seto finally gave him a small smile. "Maybe."

Mokuba's eyes lit up. "I like it when you smile. Even the small ones. You should try it more often. It looks good on you." He grinned.

Seto's smile widened despite himself. "I think I'll save them for the Dueling Field and special occasions, thanks."

"Does that make me a special occasion?"

"You've always been special, Mokuba. Maybe… Maybe I should try that more for you. At least, when it's just us."

Mokuba's eyes sparkled like diamonds with hope and joy. "Do you mean it?"

"I can't make promises about if it will actually happen, but I can try."

Mokuba gripped his brother in a tight embrace. "I love you, Seto. And I'm proud of you."

Seto exhaled. In that breath, the dam rebuilt itself after the flood had ceased, and the broken man was being put back together. "I love you too, Mokuba."

After a short while, Mokuba pulled back. "Come on. It's time for you to get some sleep now." He instructed. Seto didn't argue with him, for as soon as the word sleep was said, the exhaustion of his emotions running wild took a toll on him. If he had been standing, he would have fallen over in exhaustion. Mokuba scrambled over his brother, and pulled back the covers on his side of the bed, and then moved to the opposite side, covers in hand, to tuck him in. Seto was too tired to feel anything about it, when normally he might have been indignant.

Seto got underneath and Mokuba tucked him in. But instead of leaving afterward like Seto might have anticipated, Mokuba simply crawled under the covers himself, and made himself comfy, nestling into his brother's side. Seto gave him a tired smile, and ran a hand through his hair one time before pulling him a bit closer, and falling asleep. Mokuba responded by wrapping one arm around his brother and his free hand clasping his locket, before he followed his brother's example.

Seto Kaiba was no longer a broken man. He was pieced together by his little brother, the one person who loved him more than anything else, and who was the only one to see beauty in the shards.


End file.
